Balloon control devices



' BALLOON CONTROL D vIcEsflf I riledmarch 21,1968 Sheets-Sheet].

- INVENTORS HARRY E. NEW F|G.6 I BOYER 0. HALL W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,545,193 BALLOON CONTROL DEVICES Harry E. New and Boyer D. Hall, Newport News, Va.,

assignors toThe Dow Chemical Company, Midland,

Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 714,979 Int. Cl. D0111 1/42 U.S. Cl. 57-73 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Balloon control during the spinning or twisting of yarns is accomplished by a device attached to or forming a part of the top of the bobbin. The device includes a notched cap at the end of the bobbin, having a diameter greater than that of the bobbin.

This invention relates to apparatus adapted for prevention or control of the ballooning effect frequently observed in the step of spinning and winding of filaments or yarn upon a bobbin and, more particularly, to balloon control devices including a cap attached to the top of the bobbin and having a diameter greater than the bobbin diameter.

Balloon control devices are not new. Over the past several years a number of balloonless or anti-ballooning spinning and twisting ring spindles have found application in the woolen and worsted mills. Balloonless spinning and twisting, in the context of this invention is intended to refer to a ring spinning machine or twister equipped with a spindle or device attached to the top of the spindle or the top of the bobbin which catches the yarn and causes it to wrap around the spindle and/or bobbin thus eliminating the conventional yarn balloon. This process is said to produce a yarn of increased hairiness, increased loft or bulk, and to allow the use of larger rings and faster spindle speeds due to a reduction in the yarn tension. Current commercial balloonless spinning and twistingmachines employ either a movable or static yarn pick-up control device on the top of the spindle. This requires longer spindles of more durable construction than are present on conventional machines. Slow starting and stopping devices are also required to prevent ballooning and excessive end breakage. As presently designed, the balloon control devices are smaller than the bobbin diameter. As a result excessive tension is required to maintain control of the yarn as it is advanced from one balloon control station of the anti-ballooning device to another. The excessive tension that is necessary for control also causes excessive tension on the yarn between the point of departure of the wrapping of the bobbin and the point where the spun yarn is wound up on the bobbin. This excessive tension restricts the speed of operation since this tension results in traveler heat and wear at high speeds. The yarn tensions necessary with present devices generally limits anti-balloon spinning to fairly coarse yarn counts.

Current balloon control devices that are smaller than the bobbin diameter also require cirtically close adjustment of the yarn guide above the balloon control cap. Present balloon control devices also require relatively deep grooves acting with high yarn tension to initiate and maintain the anti-balloon spinning. All of these undesirable aspects of current balloon control devices are eliminated or greatly reduced through the use of this invention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a balloon control device that effectively minimizes or prevents ballooning.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a balloon control device that permits spinning at high speeds.

3,545,193 Patented Dec. 8, 1970 Another object of this invention is to provide a balloon control device that results in improved yarn characteristics.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device that permits spinning at low yarn tensions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a balloon control device that eliminates the need for slow starting and stopping devices in connection with spinning operations.

A further object of this invention is to provide a balloon control device that eliminates any need for critical adjustment of the yarn guide above the balloon control device.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a balloon control device that can be used with both coarse and fine count yarns.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a balloon control device that can be used on conventional spinning and twisting machines.

Other objects and features of novelty of this invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the balloon control device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the balloon control device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is the plan view of another embodiment of the balloon control device of this invention;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the balloon control device shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an plan view of a further embodiment of the balloon control device of this invention;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the balloon control device shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the balloon control device of this invention attached to the top of a conventional paper tube bobbin in a spinning operation;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the balloon control device of this invention in use with a conventional Meadows yarn twister bobbin;

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of an embodiment of this invention in which the balloon control member is an integral part of the bobbin;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a yarn removal cap which forms a part of this invention;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the device of FIG. 10 taken on the line 11-11 thereof.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the attached drawings, there is shown a cap 10 which forms a part of this invention. This cap 10 has a plurality of notches 13 located around its periphery. FIG. 2 shows an elevational view of the same cap 10 shown in FIG. 1 in which the stud 12 used to attach the cap 10 to a bobbin is clearly visible. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show a cap 30 that is similar to the cap 10 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. However, the cap 30 shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 has ten notches '31 rather than the four notches 13 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. A similar cap 50 is shown. in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, but this cap 50 has eight notches 51 around its periphery.

Tests have shown that the caps of this invention can be made from a wide range of materials and with a wide range in the number of notches. It was found that the number of grooves or notches and the type of material used in the construction of these caps does have an effect upon the yarn skein strength and the smoothness with which the yarn is advanced.

Caps made of molded nylon or polystyrene appear to give the best results although satisfactory caps have also been made with polytetrafiuoroethylene. These caps can also be made of many other materials, some of which are anodized aluminum and stainless steel. Caps with eight or ten grooves or notches appear to give better balloon control and smoother advancement of the yarn than those caps that have only a few grooves or notches such as the cap with only four notches 13 which is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 although the four notched cap does produce satisfactory results.

FIG. 7 shows a cap 74 of this invention in use with conventional spinning bobbin 71. In order to obtain the benefits of this invention it is necessary that the diameter of the cap 74 be greater than the diameter of the bobbin 71. In the preferred embodiment of this invention the cap 74 diameter is approximately one and one-half times the outside bobbin 71 diameter. In FIG. 7 a stationary yarn guide 76 was centered above the top of the cap 74. It has been found, according to this invention that the distance of the yarn guide 76 above the cap 74 should not exceed about 50% of the diameter of the cap 74 for best results. For optimum balloon control, it has also been found that the angle A formed by the yarn going from the yarn guide 76 to the cap and the plane taken through the center of the fiat portion of the cap 74, illustrated in FIG. 7, should not exceed angle B formed by the yarn going from the cap 74 to the point of contact on the bobbin and the plane taken through the center of the flat portion of the cap 74, in FIG. 7.

The system illustrated in FIG. 7 operates in the following manner. As the bobbin 71 is rotated, one of the grooves of the cap 74 picks up the yarn 73 which is held in close proximity to the cap 74 by the yarn guide 76. When the groove of the cap 74 catches the yarn 73 it wraps it around the bobbin 71 an average of roughly one and three-quarter times as shown at 77. After being wrapped around the bobbin 71 the yarn 73 goes to a traveler 75 and then to the yarn package 72. This arrangement is effective in preventing ballooning of the yarn during spinning.

FIG. 8 shows this apparatus of this invention in use in conjunction with a conventional Meadows yarn twister bobbin 81. In this embodiment of the invention, the yarn twister bobbin 81 is fitted with a cylinder extension 87 which is connected to the cap 84. The operation of the system shown in FIG. 8 illustrates an application of the present invention which regulates the yarn balloon and reduces the yarn tension. The operation of balloon control device in controlling the yarn is the same as that in FIG. 7 from the yarn guide 86 to the point of release of the yarn from cylinder extension 87. When the yarn is released from cylinder extension 87, it passes through the traveler 85 to the bobbin 81 with a minimum balloon. This reduces significantly the yarn abrasion against separator 88 and balloon control rings (not shown).

FIG. 9 illustrates a further embodiment of this invention and shows a one-piece, combination bobbin and cap in which the cap 91 is an integral part of the bobbin 90, but otherwise the same as conventional spinning r and twisting bobbins with the cap attached.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a useful device, which is part of the present invention, this device is a cup shaped cover 100 which fits over a balloon control cap such as that shown by reference numeral 50 and permits the removal of the yarn from the bobbin. Without this cover 100 the yarn tends to catch in the notches 51 of the cap when the yarn is slipped off the end of the bobbin and over the cap 50. With the cover 100 the yarn merely expands and can be removed without catching on the notches 51. This cover 100 can be made of a variety of materials. Covers made of ferrous metals perform satisfactorily and they can be quickly and easily installed by use of a permanent magnet, not shown, embedded in a balloon control cap such as shown in FIG. 5 by reference numeral 50'.

The following examples illustrate the benefits obtained from this invention.

Example 1 This example illustrates the use of the balloon control cap of this invention in combination with a standard, long, paper tube bobbin. In this example the paper bobbin was fitted with an eight notch polystyrene balloon control cap in a manner similar to that illustrated in FIG. 7. The diameter of the balloon control cap was roughly one and one half times larger than the diameter of the bobbin. This bobbin cap combination was then used on a conventional Saco Lowell spinning frame equipped with F-Z double apron drafting elements, New Era spindles, 2 /2" Herr Oil Rings and #11 metal travelers. Spinning was conducted at a spindle speed of 7500 rpm. with 22/1 cotton system count yarn from 3 denier, 2" Dow Badische Zefkrome acrylic fibers with 15 turns twist per inch Z. Table I shows the results obtained with the combination bobbin and balloon control cap of this invention as compared to the equivalent results with the normal unmodified bobbin.

TABLE I Balloonless spinning with Conventional the device of From Table I it can be seen that there is a significant gain in yarn strength with balloonless spun yarn since the single end break strength is 19% greater with balloonless yarn than with conventional spun yarn. The third from lowest break level, the Uster percent evenness, and yarn extensibility also show gains. The gain in the single end yarn uniformity and resultant strength is attributed to the low tension in Area I of FIG. 7, which reduces stretching or drafting in this zone. The spindle speed was then increased to 10,500 rpm. with excellent eificiency and no deterioration in yarn quality on the balloonless spindle.

Example 2 This example shows the use of this invention in twisting. A modified conventional Meadows yarn twister bobbin such as shown in FIG. 8 was used in these tests. The cap used in these tests had the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In the arrangement for these tests is shown in FIG. 8 the stationary yarn guide 86 was placed in close proximity to the center of cap 84. The distance was determined by the method which was previously described.

The arrangement shown in FIG. 8 gives a controlled balloon rather than a balloonless twisting. This controlled balloon arrangement significantly reduces the tension on the yarn 83, thus allowing more uniform twist to be inserted and higher speeds to be obtained. The length of the yarn in the controlled balloon is reduced by the apparatus of this invention thus reducing the centrifugal force of the yarn around the bobbin which reduces the hitting of the yarn against the separator 88.

Cotton count yarn containing 70% 18 x 4" Dow Badische Zefkrome Acrylic fiber and 30% 16 x 6" stock dyed modacrylic fiber was two plied with 3% turns per inch S twist using the balloon control arrangement shown in FIG. 8. A typical test result obtained on the Meadows Twister with a spindle speed of 2700 rpm. and having an 8" ring, 1" flange and a 142B or grain weight nylon traveler is shown in Table II.

TABLE II B alloon control using the device of this invetion Standard balloon (FIG. 8) control Initial bulk measured in cubic centimeter/gram 3.98 4.09 Final bulk 5.07 5.10 Ply yarn twist range (t.p.i.) 2.9 to 4.0 2.1 to 3.6. Tension on yarn between delivery rolls and thread guides 18 to gms In excess of 300 gins. Hitting of separator None Medium on bottom of traverse. Rubbing of balloon control ring Slight on bottom Heavy on 9/10 of traverse. traverse. Yarn iuzzing Slightly fuzzier than control. Approximate length of yarn in balloon (in.) 19

From Table II it can be seen that the range of twist variation, tension on yarn, separator and balloon control ring hitting, and the amount of yarn in the balloon are significantly reduced.

Example 3 This example illustrates the wide range in weights of travelers that can be used in spinning with the balloon control device of this invention.

To evaluate the range of weight of travelers that could be used, a 5/1 yarn was spun using the arrangement shown in FIG. 7 with a Herr Ring using metal travelers numbers 18 (3.2 gr.), (5.4 gr.), (7.1 gr.), and (8.7 gr.) Good spinning performance was obtainedwith all the travelers used; however, the #30 and 35 travelers gave the best performances A #30 traveler was used for the conventional balloon control sample which is a normal weight traveler. Previous methods of producing balloonless spinning are said to require approximately 35% increase weight in the traveler over conventional spinning. This further illustrates the advantage of lower tension and greater flexibility in machine performance of the new method described herein over current balloonless processes.

Example 4 This example illustrates how this invention enables the balloonless spinning of even fine count yarns.

Using the balloon control devices and principles described in Example 1 several fine count yarns were spun with good results. Heretofore, coarse count yarns were Example 5 This example illustrates the low yarn tensions obtainable with this invention.

In the spinning of 22/1 cotton system count yarn as described in Example 1 only auniform tension of some seven to eight grams was recorded when the machine was operating at a 7500 rpm. spindle speed. Normally with the same yarn and the same spindle speed yarn tensions of roughly 35 grams were noted on machines that were not equipped with this invention.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, it will be understood that variations and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A spinning and twisting device comprising a bobbin, a cap larger than the diameter of said bobbin fixed to the end of said bobbin, said cap having a plurality of notches for balloon control, and a smooth cover fitted over said cap to permit easy removal of yarn from the bobbin.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the cap diameter is approximately one and one half times the diameter of the outside of the bobbin.

3. The device of claim 2 which is made from a material selected from the group consisting of polystyrene, nylon, and polytetrafluoroethylene.

4. The device of claim 1 in which said cap and bobbin are one integral piece.

5. The device of claim 1 in which said cap has notches disposed in a regular pattern around its periphery.

6. The device of claim 4 having a cap with from four to ten notches.

7. The device of claim 1 in which said cover is made from a ferrous metal.

*8. The device of claim 7 having magnetic means for attaching said cap to said bobbin.

9. The device of claim 8 in which said magnetic means is a permanent magnet embedded in said cap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,032,960 5/ 1962 Kartmann 57-73 3,172,248 3/1965 Piper 57-73 49,988 9/1865 Eaton 57-73 959,198 5/1910 Boyd et a1 57-73 2,041,918 5/1936 Freund 57-73 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,009,801 3/1952 France 57-73 996,910 6/ 1965 Great Britain 57-73 JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner 

